4.4. Use scripting to perform administrative tasks, for example, scripting libraries, ws

4.4. Use scripting to perform administrative tasks, for example, scripting libraries, ws_ant, wsadmin
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4.4. Use scripting to perform administrative tasks, for example, scripting libraries, ws_ant, wsadmin


	[WAS_8.5_ADMIN_GUIDE] Overview of WebSphere scripting [WAS_8.5_ADMIN_GUIDE] The wsadmin tool management objects

WebSphere Application Server provides a scripting interface based on the Bean Scripting Framework (BSF). This interface is called wsadmin. BSF is an open source project that is used to implement an architecture for incorporating scripting into Java applications and applets. The BSF architecture works as an interface between Java applications and scripting languages. Using this framework allows scripting languages to complete the following tasks:

Look up a preregistered bean and access a predeclared bean.
Register a newly created bean.
Perform all bean operations.
Bind events to scripts in the scripting language.

Because wsadmin uses BSF, it can make various Java objects available through language-specific interfaces to scripts. Figure below shows the major components that are involved in the wsadmin scripting solution.

Figure 4.5. Scripting in wsadmin

You can use the following programming languages to write wsadmin scripts:

Jython
Jacl

With WebSphere Application Server V7, the deprecation process for the Jacl syntax began. The script library and the command assistance on the administrative console support only Jython.

If you have existing Jacl scripts and want to start migrating to Jython, you can use the Jacl-to-Jython conversion utility to convert the scripts. This conversion assistant typically achieves 95-98% of a preliminary conversion. In most cases, the resulting conversion is syntactically and runtime equivalent.

However, verify each line to ensure that the code functions as you originally intended. When Jacl and Jython language differences result in lines of code that are difficult to convert automatically, the converted lines are flagged with a #?PROBLEM? tag. This tag provides assistance in finding areas that are most likely in need of manual conversion.

The wsadmin tool management objects

The wsadmin tool has the following administrative objects that provide server configuration and management capabilities:

Help

The Help object provides a quick way to get information about methods, operations, and attributes using scripting. For example, to get a list of the public methods that are available for the AdminControl object, enter the following command:

wsadmin>print Help.AdminConfig()

To get a detailed description of a specific object method and the parameters that it requires, invoke the help(...) method of the target object with the method name as the option to the help(...) method, as shown below:

wsadmin>print AdminConfig.help("createClusterMember")
WASX7284I: Method: createClusterMember

        Arguments: cluster id, node id, member attributes

        Description: Creates a new Server object on the node specified
        by "node id."  This Server is created as a new member of the existing
        cluster specified by "cluster id," and has attributes specified in
        "member attributes."  One attribute is required: "memberName."
        The Server is created using the default template for
        Server objects, and has the name and specified by the
        "memberName" attribute.

        Method: createClusterMember

        Arguments: cluster id, node id, member attributes, template id

        Description: Creates a new Server object on the node specified
        by "node id."  This Server is created as a new member of the existing
        cluster specified by "cluster id," and has attributes specified in
        "member attributes."  One attribute is required: "memberName."
        The Server is created using the Server template
        specified by "template id," and has the name specified by
        the "memberName" attribute.
wsadmin>

The AdminTask object also supports searching for the specific command by using a wildcard character under help. For example, listing below shows the command to get a list of the command names that start with the term create:

wsadmin>print AdminTask.help("-commands", "create*")
WASX8004I: Available admin commands:

createAllActivePolicy - Create a policy that automatically activates all group members.
createApplicationServer - Command that creates a server
createApplicationServerTemplate - creates a server Template based on a server configuration
createAuditEncryptionConfig - Configures audit record encryption.
createAuditEventFactory - Creates an entry in the audit.xml to reference the configuration of an audit event factory implementation of the Audit Event Factory interface.
createAuditFilter - Creates an entry in the audit.xml to reference an Audit Specification. Enables the specification by default.
createAuditKeyStore - Creates a new Key Store.
createAuditNotification - Configures an audit notification.
createAuditNotificationMonitor - Configures an audit notification monitor.
createAuditSelfSignedCertificate - Create a new self-signed certificate and store it in a key store.
createAuditSigningConfig - Configures audit record signing.
[......]

AdminControl
The AdminControl object is used for operational control. It communicates with MBeans that represent live objects running a WebSphere server process. It includes commands to query existing running objects and their attributes and to invoke operations on the objects. In addition to the operational commands, the AdminControl object supports commands to query information about the connected server, to trace clients, to reconnect to a server, and to start and stop a server.
Note that because the AdminControl object operates on live MBeans, you cannot use it to start a deployment manager, node agent, or stand-alone application server.
AdminConfig
The AdminConfig object is used to manage the configuration information that is stored in the repository. This object communicates with the WebSphere Application Server configuration service component to make configuration inquiries and changes. You can use it to query existing configuration objects, create configuration objects, modify existing objects, and remove configuration objects. In a distributed server environment, the AdminConfig commands are available only if a scripting client is connected to the deployment manager. When connected to a node agent or a managed application server, the AdminConfig commands are not available because the configuration for these server processes are copies of the master configuration that resides in the deployment manager.
AdminApp
The AdminApp object can update application metadata, map virtual hosts to web modules, and map servers to modules for applications already installed. Changes to an application, such as specifying a library for the application to use or setting session management configuration properties, are performed using the AdminConfig object.
AdminTask
The AdminTask object is used to access a set of task-oriented administrative commands that provide an alternative way to access the configuration commands and the running object management commands. The administrative commands run simple and complex commands. The administrative commands are discovered dynamically when the scripting client is started. The set of available administrative commands depends on the edition of WebSphere Application Server that you install. You can use the AdminTask object commands to access these commands.
Two run modes are always available for each administrative command, namely the batch and interactive mode. When you use an administrative command in interactive mode, you go through a series of steps to collect your input interactively. This process provides users a text-based wizard and a similar user experience to the wizard in the administrative console. You can also use the help command to obtain help for any of the administrative commands and the AdminTask object.
Example, list available servers:
```
wsadmin>print AdminTask.listServers('[-serverType APPLICATION_SERVER ]')

server1(cells/ilc03zNode01Cell/nodes/ilc03zNode01/servers/server1|server.xml)
								
```

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4.3. Use the capabilities of the Job Manager tooling including the submission of Liberty profile jobs.	Home	4.5. Write, test, and debug scripts by using the IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software or the IBM WebSphere Application Server Developer Tools for Eclipse.